Francis h



(No Model.)

F. 'H. RICHARDS.

BUTTON FASTENER.

Patented July 14, 1885.

Fig. 2.

' Fig; 3.

Witness es N. PETERS, PhnYwLilm-grapher, Washington. D c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS H. RICHARDS, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASS, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERL CAN BUTTON FASTENER COMPANY, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONN.

BUTTON-FASTENER.

SEEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 322,007, dated July 14, 1885.

(No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANCIS H. humans, a citizen of the United States, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Button-Fasteners, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a view in perspective of my improved button-fastener. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same when set into a shoe upper or fabric for holding thereto a shoe-button. Fig. 3 is an end view of the same. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the fastener.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

My invention relates to button -fasteners which are made of wire, the object being to provide such afasteuer which will hold the button securely, and stay in the same position as when set into the fabric.

To this end, the invention consists in certain improvements hereinafter first described in connection with the drawings and afterward pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that my improved button-fastener is made of a single piece of wire, and consists of an elongated head, H, from which rise two straight prongs, P P", that are adapted to be inserted through holes in the fabric F, and then bent over into hooks 11 and H, for holding the shank E of a button, B. The head H is formed of a central part, M, extending from end to end of said head, two side parts, N, one on either side and at opposite ends of said central partand parallel thereto, and two semicircular connecting parts, 0, joining one of said parts N to either end of the said central part. All of the said five parts forming the head lie in the same plane, so that no part is bent under or over, nor twisted about any other part. From the end of each part N, which is not connected to part M, rises a straight prong, vertical to the aforesaid plane of head H, and standing near to the center of the length of said head. These prongs are thus both vertical to said plane, and parallel to each other, and are therefore adapted to be inserted through separate holes, as M- N, in the fabric. which fit closely to these said prongs. By this means the head H is kept permanently in the position in which it is when the fastener is first inserted, and is not allowed to turn around, as by the old way of inserting both prongs of a twisted wire buttonfastener through a single large hole in the fabric.

In practice it is considered necessary that the heads should lie parallel to the edge L of the shoe upper, when the fasteners inserted are used for attaching shoe-buttons, for which purpose they are particularly adapted. This condition is met by the aforesaid construction, and also the further condition that the holes made in the shoe-upper should be so very small that when a fastener is cut out in the operation of changing a button from one position to another, said holes will be practically unnoticeable.

It is obvious that by the old method of inserting the entire loop or eye of the fastener up through a slit in the material, (said slit being as long as the width of said 1001),) the changing of the positions of the buttons practically destroys the beauty, the finished appearance of the shoe, so that in the finer grades the use of such fasteners is therefore commercially considered entirely impracticable. By my present invention both the conditions noted above, of position and of small perforations, are successfully met, and by the same means, namely: the two prongs P and P extend up from the head parallel to each other, and after being inserted through the perforations M and N respectively, they are then bent over through, the shank of the button to be held thereby to form hooks, which stand side by side crosswise to said head, and with their ends turned in opposite directions, and which together form a loop or eye above the shoe-upper, which is substantially equal in width to the distance apart of the two prongs.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 4,, the fastener is not yet completed, and constitutes a fastenerblank, which blank is adapted to first have its prongs inserted through the fabric, and to then be made into a complete fastener by the bending over of its prongs to form the hooks ICO described. When thus'inserted and completed, my improved button-fastener secures the button to the fabric or other material in a very superior manner, having the advantage of permanence in its proper position, small perforations in the material, and great strength.

It will be understood that the fastener-blanks are designed to be manufactured and supplied to the users with the prongs straight, as in Fig. 1, being afterward set and completed by means of suitable instrument's.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. An improved article ofmanufacture, consisting of a button-fastener blank formed from a single piece of plain wire bent to form ahead having two comparatively short side bearings, and a central longer hearing, as shown and described, and two upright prongs, arising from said side bearings, all substantially as set forth.

2. The improved button fastening herein described, consisting of the combination, with a perforated .fabric or material, and with a button having a shank or eye, of abutton-fastener formed from a single piece of plain wire bent to form a head having two comparatively short side bearings and a central longer bearing, as shown and described, and two upright prongs arising from said side bearings, passing through said fabric or material, and terminating in hooks passing through said shank or eye, all substantially as set forth.

FRANCIS II. RICHARDS.

\Vitnesses:

H. XV. FAULKNIGR, C. O. PALMER. 

